Employee Cultural Orientation And Workplace Deviant Behaviours In Multinational Companies In Ghana

Abstract

The role of societal cultural practices in workplace deviant behaviours, with the added dynamic effect of perceived ethical leadership, perceived organisational support, and the three-component of employee commitment as relational constructs were explored. Mixed methods approach was employed in this study. Data was gathered from a representative sample of 433 employees of multinational companies (MNCs) for the quantitative study, and 10 qualitative interviews were conducted. Both convenience and simple random sampling techniques were employed. Individualistic, collectivistic, and power distance did not significantly relate with interpersonal deviance of employees but uncertainty avoidance orientation significantly related positively with interpersonal deviance. Also, individualistic and power distance orientations significantly related negatively with organisational deviance whilst uncertainty avoidance showed significant positive relationship with organisational deviance. Collectivistic orientation did not show significant relationship with organisational deviance. Some hypotheses for moderating effects received support whilst others failed to receive support from the empirical data. The findings from the qualitative approach indicated that employees’ perception and interpretation of organisational interventions in dealing with workplace deviance are cardinal to achieving success. Finally, employees of MNCs held differing views about the meaning of workplace deviant behaviours. Implications are particularly relevant for diverse organisations which encourage employees with diverse cultural backgrounds, in addressing workplace deviance, and for multinational organisations which promote global organisational culture and standardized HR and organisational practices while underestimating the impact of local cultures in interventions to address workplace deviant behaviours.